Tow truck driver beaten in Mission

Jim Herron Zamora and Ray Delgado, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Friday, September 20, 1996

1996-09-20 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An irate motorist allegedly let his impatience get the best of him and beat up a tow truck driver who took more than two hours to get to a Mission District address to pick up a car, San Francisco police said.

Rudolph Primus, 28, was so angry when tow truck driver Peter Lee finally arrived to tow his 1991 Chevrolet Camaro to a service station that he allegedly ran up and began punching him, police Lt. Dan Lawson said.

Primus pulled Lee out of the truck, punched him and knocked him to the ground, Lawson said. Witnesses called 911 and identified Primus to police.

Primus, who has a prior police record, was arrested on suspicion of assault. Lee received medical treatment at San Francisco General Hospital for his injuries and was back at work Thursday night.

"I don't know why he hit me," said Lee, who has worked for Golden Gate Tow for two years. "The guy was mad - he told me he waited for so long. I told him I only got the call 10 minutes ago. But he was too angry to listen."

Lee said he was hit from behind without any warning.

"I didn't see anything," Lee said. "He was behind me and then he just hit me."

Afterward, "I told him "I can't tow your car, I need to go to the hospital' and he looked angry. . . . I'm very happy someone called 911."

Lee said in his time as a driver, he has encountered many weird, upset or rude people "but no one ever hit me before." &lt;